Assalaamualikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Inshallah in this compilation the topic which will be discussed is Extravagance which is called Israaf āŲ„Ų³Ų±Ų§Łā in Arabic. Ų„Ų³Ų±Ų§Ł means : wastefulness, reckless spending, excessiveness, exceeding the proper bonds, squandering, to name a few. Allah has out rightly mentioned the warnings against Extravagance both in Quran and Sunnah. This ill has eaten up the hard earned money of the Muslim Ummah not to mention the free money of the oppressors. In this compilation Inshallah we shall touch some aspects of the Muslim Ummah were Extravagance is at its peak.
Warning in the Quran:
āAnd it is He Who produces gardens trellised and untrellised, and date-palms, and crops of different shape and taste (their fruits and their seeds) and olives, and pomegranates, similar (in kind) and different (in taste). Eat of their fruit when they ripen, but pay the due thereof (its Zakat according to Allah’s Orders 1/10th or 1/20th) on the day of its harvest, and waste not by extravagance. Verily, He likes not Al-Musrifun (those who waste by extravagance)ā ( Surah Al-Anaam, Chapter #6, Verse #141)
āO Children of Adam! Take your adornment (by wearing your clean clothes), while praying and going round (the Tawaf of) the Ka’bah, and eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allah) likes not Al-Musrifun (those who waste by extravagance)ā (Surah Al-Araf, Chapter #7, Verse #31)
āThen We fulfilled to them the promise. So We saved them and those whom We willed, but We destroyed Al-Musrifun (i.e. disbelievers in Allah, in His Messengers, extravagants, transgressors of Allah’s limits by committing crimes, oppressions, polytheism and sins)ā ( Surah Al-Anbiya, Chapter #21, Verse #9)
Warning in the Sunnah:
Narrated Ash-sha’bi: The clerk of Al-Mughira bin Shu’ba narrated, “Muawiya wrote to Al-Mughira bin Shu’ba: Write to me something which you have heard from the Prophet (p.b.u.h) .” So Al-Mughira wrote: I heard the Prophet saying, “Allah has hated for you three things: 1. Vain talks, (useless talk) that you talk too much or about others. 2. Wasting of wealth (by Extravagance) 3. And asking too many questions (in disputed religious matters) or asking others for something (except in great need). (See Hadith No. 591, Vol. Ill) (Bukhari, Book #24, Hadith #555)
Narrated Al-Mughira bin Shu’ba: The Prophet said, “Allah has forbidden for you, (1) to be undutiful to your mothers, (2) to bury your daughters alive, (3) to not to pay the rights of the others (e.g. charity, etc.) and (4) to beg of men (begging). And Allah has hated for you (1) vain, useless talk, or that you talk too much about others, (2) to ask too many questions, (in disputed religious matters) and (3) to waste the wealth (by Extravagance). (Bukhari, Book #41, Hadith #591)
Narrated Aisha: Hind bint ‘Utba (Abu Sufyan’s wife) came and said, “O Allah’s Apostle! Abu Sufyan is a miser. Is there any harm if I spend something from his property for our children?” He said, there is no harm for you if you feed them from it justly and reasonably (with no Extravagance).” (Bukhari, Book #43, Hadith #640)
Narrated Warrad: (The clerk of Al-Mughira) Muawiya wrote to Al-Mughira ‘Write to me what you have heard from Allah’s Apostle.’ So he (Al-Mughira) wrote to him: Allah’s Prophet used to say at the end of each prayer: “La ilaha illalla-h wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul Mulku, wa lahul Hamdu wa hula ala kulli shai’in qadir. ‘Allahumma la mani’ a lima a’taita, wala mu’tiya lima mana’ta, wala yanfa’u dhuljadd minkal-jadd.” He also wrote to him that the Prophet used to forbid (1) Qil and Qal (idle useless talk or that you talk too much about others), (2) Asking too many questions (in disputed Religious matters); (3) And wasting one’s wealth by Extravagance; (4) and to be undutiful to one’s mother (5) and to bury the daughters alive (6) and to prevent your favors (benevolence to others (i.e. not to pay the rights of others (7) And asking others for something (except when it is unavoidable). (Bukhari, Book #92, Hadith #395)
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worsethan his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls, to keep him going. If he must dothat (fill his stomach), then let him fill one third with food, one third with drink and one third with air.āNarrated by al-Tirmidhi (2380); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah (2265).
Now after reading the proofs from the Quran & Sunnah no sane Muslim will deny that we as an Ummah are involved in this act to the core. Letās just see some activities of our Ummah were we have been practicing extravagance.
Wedding Ceremonies:
This is one of the biggest extravagant events in our Ummah. Not only the bride, the groom and their households but also the invitees get involved into it knowingly, willingly or unwillingly. Now how do the invitees and other relatives get involved in it? The women, May Allah guide them; donāt want to wear the clothes which they had worn earlier in any other wedding. So they go for new and expensive ones, as such they have to compete with other women on that day. The kids too have their say. Bringing gifts for the households of the bride and groom also has to be fulfilled, even if your pocket is empty. All of this is done without thinking that it may come under extravagance and end you up with debts. For some people the dress of the Bride for her reception which costs so high is only worn once in her lifetime. The walima which is give by the groom and his family breaks records of extravagance. In the Arab world many animals are slaughtered for the feast and a lot of rice along with other food stuff is used to prepare the traditional āMandiā. The number of guests who practically attend the feast is meager when compared to the food prepared. Some times on one dish 2-3 people sit to eat whereas the same dish can easily feed at least 5 people. So 3 peopleās food is wasted. This goes to the trash once the guest are gone. In the Indian Sub-continent the Muslims are competing with Kuffar in extravagance. They have more than required number of dishes to eat. If a person takes one morsel from each dish he cannot finish all the dishes in some weddings. The culture of giving a dinner by the brideās family on the day of Nikah is Haram. The strange thing here is that even the Scholars of Islam and those who say this act as Haram do attend these dinners and fill themselves with the mouthwatering dishes. What answer will we give to Allah for this? O my dear brothers and sisters wake up and stop this as much as you can.
Aisha (RA) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) said: āThe most blessed nikah is the one with the least expenses.ā (al-Bayhaqi in his Shuāab al-Iman & Mishkat al-Masabih).
Clothes:
Many of us have the bad habit of buying new clothes whenever we go for shopping or find a new creation in the market. To wear good, clean and new clothes is not Haram, but there must be a balance for it. Many times the people who are in this habit donāt even remember their clothes and which one they had worn ever. All the wear which are not in use are extravagance.
Mobiles:
Now how can mobiles be extravagance? Yes mobiles are extravagance for majority of us. There are so many mobiles which are highly sophisticated and a lay man cannot operate nor can use its full options. For this lay man any other good mobile can work for him but to compete in showing off he goes for the latest one every now and then. This is pure extravagance.
Vehicles:
Be it Scooters, Bikes, Cars, Aeroplanes or Helicopters. If we have more than what is required for us then it is extravagance. Some people have the hobby of collecting a particular collection of brands in bikes and cars. They try to buy each and every model of them. Now do they use all of them? Even if they use all of them, one on each day, arenāt they blocking their money in dead stock? And are they giving Zakat on all their vehicles?
Water:
As a matter of fact we Muslims are not careful of our use of water. Be it the drinking water or the water for use. What has been seen in some households in the Indian Sub-continent is that the drinking water which is provided by the Municipality on a regular basis is stored in containers in houses. Some places it is provided on a daily basis and others at least in every 2-3 days. What our Sisters do is that they drain away the good stored water claiming it to be old water and fill the containers afresh again. Now why have we got to drain water? Can that water not be used for other purposes? As such the water can be drunk for some days. Donāt the people living in the Arab countries store water for days and drink it even today? Also while performing Ablution (Wudu) we keep the tap running and waste a lot of water. Same goes while taking a bath. How can we defend our act in front Allah for misusing and wasting the Blessing of water Allah has granted to us?
Narrated: Abdullah bin Amr bin Al Aas: A man came to the Prophet (SAWS) and asked him: Messenger of Allah, how is the ablution (to be performed)? He (the Prophet) then called for water in a vessel and washed his hands up to the wrists three times, then washed his face three times, and washed his forearms three times. He then wiped his head and inserted both his index fingers in his ear-holes; he wiped the back of his ears with his thumbs and the front of his ears with the index fingers. He then washed his feet three times. Then he said: This is how ablution should be performed. If anyone does more or less than this, he has done wrong and transgressed, or (said) transgressed and done wrong. Sunan Abu Dawood Chapter No: 1, Purification (Kitab Al-Taharah) Hadith no: 135
A desert Arab came to Allah’s Apostle (SAWS) and asked him about ablution. He demonstrated (washing each part of his body) thrice, and then said: That is (the method) of the ablution. And he who does more than this has done wrong, transgressed the limit and has oppressed (himself). (Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, Ibn Majah, and Abu Dawud)
If we carefully see our daily activities we are intentionally or unintentionally involved in extravagance. To avoid this we must always have a screening of our self āTaskiyatul Nafsā. We must always remember the hard life Muhammad (SAWS) and his companions (RA) lived and thank Allah for the blessings granted to us. By this compilation I am not saying that we must not use the benefits Allah has bestowed on us but be careful with extravagance.
Jazakallah khair,
Wassalaamualikum.
